Coversations to Pass the Time
by Oriana47
Summary: A series of conversation that take place between Daniel and Betty following "The Past Presents the Future"
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** These are a series of events and conversations that take place between Daniel and Betty following the events of "The Past Presents the Future" and before "Hello Goodbye." Knowing that three weeks pass between these two episodes, I firmly believe that the evening that Daniel called Betty to come into work at the beginning of "Hello Goodbye" was only one of the many times Betty and Daniel spend together as friends since Hilda's wedding.

**Author's Note 2:** Depending on my muse (and school work) I plan to continue on with this story. Also, this is unbeta'd, not to mention my first Ugly Betty fic, and the first creative piece of writing I have done in almost 7 years, so please be kind in your review. Thanks!

Enjoy!

Betty hangs up her phone, taking a deep breath. Daniel was right, she thinks to herself. It's an amazing feeling when everything is right in the world. She knows her family is happy and it's her turn to make herself happy too. In fact, this job offer couldn't have come at a better time.

She is so lost in her thoughts that Betty doesn't realise Daniel coming up behind her.

"Hey," Daniel almost whispers as her puts his hand on her shoulder.

Betty jumps and turns around to face Daniel unaware that she still has her phone in her hand.

"Oh, Daniel, I didn't realise you were there."

"Yeah, you looked like you were somewhere else." Then seeing the phone in her hand Daniel asks, "Was it someone from the office?"

"What?" Betty looks at the phone in her hand. "Oh, no, it was a wrong number."

"Oh, ok. Well, the dollar dance just ended which means the floor is open again and I was hoping you would do me the honour of letting me throw you around the dance floor once more?"

Betty smiles as Daniel puts out his hand, but drops it when she doesn't take it.

"Not that I'm not flattered, Daniel, but do you really want to spend all your time dancing with me? You know, there are a lot of Hilda's pretty single friends here who wouldn't mind a dance with you or an evening alone with you, if you know what I mean."

"As tempting as that sounds, I would rather have your company for the evening."

Betty mouth drops open and gives Daniel a stunned look.

Daniel, realising how that sounds, quickly adds "you know what I mean. I'm here as your date, it would be rude of me to spend the evening dancing with someone else, don't you think?"

Betty laughs in reply, "Well technically I disinvited you as my date. So you can dance with whomever you like."

Daniel once again puts out his hand. "I am," he replies with a grin.

Betty smiles and takes Daniels hand as he escorts her back into the ballroom.

Almost three hours later the reception has ended. Betty, now wearing Daniel's suit jacket, is walking down the street holding Hilda's bouquet. Daniel is walking next to Betty holding one of the centre pieces from the reception.

"Daniel, you didn't have to walk me home. It's not even that late."

"I know, but it was a nice night and I felt like a walk. Besides, you have the bouquet. How were you going to carry the centre piece too?"

"I should have just given the bouquet to one of Hilda's friends or made her throw it again. I'm so not planning on getting married anytime soon."

Daniel snickers and looks at Betty adoringly.

Realising the way Daniel is looking at her asks, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how that one girl with the red hair tried to jump over your back to get to the bouquet but you jabbed her in the stomach with your elbow. If you didn't want it why didn't you just let her get it?"

"Well I was going to, but it was the principle of the thing. I don't like girls who think they have to step on other girls do get a man."

Daniel laughs. "Well then, I'm glad you proved your point."

Betty smiles in response. "Thank you."

As they arrive at Betty's building, Betty takes off the jacket to hand it to Daniel. "Here you go. Thanks for letting me borrow it. I'm not used to wearing sleeveless dresses. It makes me feel a bit exposed."

Daniel takes the jacket from Betty and hands her the centre piece. "Well you look great in it. The dress I mean, not the jacket" Daniel clears his throat.

"Thank you, Daniel and thank you for coming today. It really meant a lot to Hilda for you to be there."

"It's no problem. I felt honoured to be invited. Like I told you before, your family is really important to me. I know you have all been through a lot when it comes to love, especially your sister. It's really nice to see her and Justin so happy. They deserve it."

"Yeah, they do. Well thanks again. I'll see you on Monday?"

"Oh yeah, I have an 8am meeting with ad sales in the morning."

"Sounds fun," Betty laughs as she turns around to walk up the stairs of her building.

Before she can put down her flowers to unlock the door she hears Daniel from behind her ask, "What are you doing for lunch on Monday?"

Betty turns around a little stunned. "Nothing, as far as I know. Why?"

"Oh, uuuh, there's this new sushi place around the corner from the office that I've been meaning to try. I thought I might go on Monday. Would you want to join me?"

"Uh, yeah. That sounds good."

Daniel lets out the breath he didn't realise he was holding."Okay!" He replies, a little too excited. "Uhhh, great. I'll see you on Monday." Daniel turns to walk across the street almost tripping off the curb.

Betty stifles a laugh as he walks away.

On Monday, Betty is working at her desk trying to come up with an idea for the concept meeting the following day while trying at the same time to figure out when she should tell Daniel about the job in London. She had planned on telling him at lunch that afternoon, but with the news of Wilhelmina in the hospital after being shot both he and his mom were up to their necks in yet another media frenzy.

Betty's desk phone rings and she quickly picks it up. "Mode Magazine, Betty Suarez here."

"Hey, Betty."

"Daniel, how are you? How is Wilhelmina?"

"The doctors say she is going to be fine. They're only concern is that she lost a lot of blood, but they were able to give her a transfusion and the surgery Friday night went well. They got the bullet and no major organs were damaged."

Betty gives a sigh of relief. "Daniel, that's great."

"Yeah, she's in a coma, but the doctors say that she should come out of it soon."

"That's really good to hear." Betty looks around to make sure no one is in hearing distance and whispers into the phone, "What about Tyler? Where is he?"

"He's staying with my mom for the time being. After the way Wilhelmina manipulated him, I almost wish he had killed her."

"Daniel, don't say that."

"I know. I know. It's just that...he could go to jail for something that he would have never had done if she would have just left him alone."

"Well what did your mom tell the police?"

"She said it was an accident. She didn't tell them that Tyler was there. I know it's crazy, but he doesn't deserve to spend the rest of his life in jail because of her."

"I know, Daniel. Hey, do you want me to come sit with you at the hospital?"

"No, I'm already in the car. I'm going back to my apartment to change then back to the office. We still have an issue to close out and we need to get started on our 100th anniversary issue."

"Well is there anything you need me to do in the mean time?"

"No, I'll be in shortly and I'm really sorry for missing our lunch today."

"Daniel, don't worry about that. I'll see you when you get in."

"Okay. See you soon."

Betty hangs up the phone. "Nope, definitely not a good day to tell him," she says to herself.

That same evening Betty is gathering up her things to head home. As she's shutting off her computer Daniel comes in.

"Hey, you're heading out?"

"Yeah, a mug of hot coco and my pink fuzzy slippers are calling my name."

"You want some company?"

"Uhh..sure. But don't you think you should be with your mom and Tyler?"

"I've been with them all weekend. I need some time to myself."

Betty gives him a strange look

"Okay, I need time away from them, but I don't really want to be alone. So what do you say? You want some company?"

Betty gives Daniel her patented smile "Okay, but I get to choose what we watch on TV."

"As long as it has nothing to do with family drama or murder, I don't care."

Betty laughs as she puts on her coat and walks out the door with Daniel.

Betty and Daniel are laughing outside Betty's apartment door. She opens the door to let them in. Daniel walks in holding a takeout bag.

Daniel looks around surprised, "Wow, I haven't seen this place since before you moved out. It looks great."

"Yeah, Mark and Amanda kept it up pretty nice."

"I'm sorry, but I still get a kick out of the fact that your tub is in the middle of the room. How did you do it when your family was staying with you?"

"Oh, trust me there were some awkward moments that I would rather not relive."

Daniel laughs, "Fair enough."

"Do you want to eat in the kitchen?"

"Please, do I look like the sort of person who eats their Chinese food in the kitchen? I'll grab a couple plates and some forks and meet you in front of the TV."

Daniel laughs and quickly follows Betty's orders.

Daniel sets out the Chinese takeout containers on the coffee table. He sits down on the couch and kicks off his shoes.

"How are Hilda and Bobby enjoying their honeymoon?" Daniel yells to Betty.

Betty walks over to the living room with the plates and forks. She sits down next to Daniel on the couch and start putting food on her plate while Daniel does the same.

"Oh my god, they are having so much fun. They are really enjoying the waterslides at the hotel or so Hilda tells me, but I honestly don't think they have left the room since they got there."

"Well can you blame them? I remember when Molly and I were packing for our honeymoon, I only packed her one dress. The rest was...well, there really wasn't much else."

Betty looks at Daniel with a serene smile on her face.

"What?" Daniel asks sceptically.

"Nothing, it's just...you haven't talked about Molly in awhile. It's nice to hear you talking about her again."

Daniel smiles and takes a deep breath, "Yeah, well, I guess I finally realised that it helps to talk about her. I loved her and she was a big part of my life and I know she wants me to be happy. Talking about her helps to remind me of that."

Betty nods her head. "That's really great to hear. But, remember Daniel that moving on doesn't mean you have to move backwards. You'll meet someone again who is beautiful, smart and loves you for you. You don't have to date women like Trista. If being with Molly taught you anything, it should be that you deserve better than that."

Daniel smiles at Betty and looks her intensely. "I know I do and I know I will."

Betty smiles back at Daniel. "Good." She takes a deep breath to end the intensity of the conversation. "So what do you want to watch?"

Betty picks up the remote to turn on the TV as the two continue talking long into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: There is an error in the first chapter of the story. When Daniel says that Wilhelmina's surgery on Friday night went well, he should have said Saturday night as that was the actual day she was shot. Sorry for the error.

Author's Note 2: If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for the story, please let me know. I have a few conversations I want to tackle but I'm worried it won't be enough to take up three weeks.

Tuesday morning Betty arrives at work throwing her purse on her desk and heavily sitting down in her chair. She puts her head down on her desk using her purse as a pillow. Suddenly, without a cup of coffee is placed in front of her. She looks up as she feels the warmth of the takeout coffee cup on the back of her hand. She sees Daniel standing on the opposite side of the desk holding his own cup of coffee.

"What's this for?" Betty asks looking up but not picking up her head.

"I owe you for last night. I didn't mean to keep you up so late." Daniel replies looking a bit sheepish.

Betty finally sits up straight and takes the coffee. "It wasn't your fault. I'm the one that decided on watching "It." Man, I forgot that that movie was three hours long."

Daniel laughs. "Yeah, well we talked for another couple hours after that. Thanks again by the way for letting me hang out."

"You know, Daniel, you don't have to keep thanking me for spending time with you. We're friends, right? That's what friends do. Besides believe it or not, I actually do like spending time with you."

Daniel smiles a bit wider, "Thank you. I like spending time with you too. Speaking of spending time together, I still owe you a lunch. You have time today?"

"Oh, I can't. I have a lunch meeting with someone for a potential feature for the 100th anniversary issue. A woman who was born on the same day and year Mode was launched. She's had an amazing life and has been a subscriber to the magazine since she was 13."

"Oh, ok. I should probably drop in at the hospital anyways to check with Wilhelmina's doctors. In fact, I better get going I had to reschedule my meeting from yesterday."

Daniel turns around and begins slowly walking out the door as Betty begins getting her work station ready for the day. Suddenly, Daniel turns around and asks, "What about tonight for dinner? Are you free?"

Betty a little shocked replies, "Uhhh...yeah, but I thought you were going to see your mom and Tyler tonight?"

"Oh that's right. Do you want to join us?"

"You don't think that would be a little awkward with everything that's going on?"

"No, Betty, my mom loves you and she trusts you. Besides she knows I told you and I think she would really enjoy the company. She's been a little isolated since Saturday and I know it would do her some good to see a friendly face."

"Oh, Daniel, of course I'll come, but Tyler won't mind?"

"If Tyler is going to be part of the Meade family, he's going to have to realise that Betty Suarez is part of the deal."

Betty blushes, "Daniel, that's really sweet."

"Well, it's the truth. I'll have a town car pick us up from here at 6."

Betty nods.

"Great. See you later," Daniel finishes as he walks out the door.

Later that evening Betty and Daniel are standing outside the Meade home. Clair answers the door surprised.

"Betty! I didn't realise you were coming," Claire says as she moves aside to let them in.

Daniel quickly answers for Betty, "Yeah, I thought it might be nice to have a friendly face around. I know how down you've been the last couple days with everything going on."

"Oh, well Betty, you are always welcome here."

"Thank you, Mrs. Meade. I wasn't too sure if I should come or not."

"None sense, Betty. You are like family. Here, let me take your coat. Tyler is in the family room if you would like to join him. I'll tell Consuela to add another place setting to the table."

Betty and Daniel take off their coats and hand them to Clair who takes them and heads towards the kitchen. Daniel puts his hand on Betty's back to usher her towards the family room.

As they are walking Daniel leans over to whisper into Betty's ear, "By the way, I meant to tell you, you look great in that dress."

"Thank you," Betty responds with a smile

They enter the living room where Tyler is sitting on the couch looking intensely at the glass of seltzer water he is holding in both hands.

"Tyler," Daniel says loudly to get his attention.

Tyler jumps looking towards the entry way.

"Oh, Daniel," He says while getting up and walking over to Daniel to shake his hand. "I didn't realise you were here"

"Yeah, we just got here. How are you doing?"

"Honestly, I'm a little on edge. I can be in handcuffs at any moment," Tyler replies taking a deep breath. He finally notices Betty is standing next to Daniel looking at him concerned.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even realise..." he says realising that he has said too much.

Daniel looks between Tyler and Betty realising that they have never had a proper introduction.

"Oh, Tyler, you remember Betty? She's one of our associate editors at Mode and my former assistant and she's also a friend of the family."

"A _**very close**_ friend of the family," Clair corrects Daniel as she walks into the room. "Don't worry Tyler, you can trust Betty. She's on our side," Clair finishes as she stands behind Betty and puts her hands on her shoulders.

Tyler smiles and shakes Betty's hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise. I mean my mom has mentioned you before, but..." Tyler says shyly.

"It's okay," Betty interrupts him. "I understand. All of this is a lot to deal with. I just hope you know that I understand the situation. I mean, I've been there before. I mean I haven't shot anyone one, but..."

Tyler looks at Betty confused.

"I think what Betty means is we've all been manipulated by Wilhelmina at one time or another," Daniel says coming to Betty's rescue.

"Right!" Betty yells points at Daniel. "That's what I meant."

Tyler laughs in spite of himself. "Uhhh...thanks, I think," he replies.

"Why don't we all sit down? Dinner should be ready in 10 minutes," Clair says ushering everyone to the couches in the middle of the room.

Betty sits down first while Daniel sits down right next to her putting his arm behind her so it rest on the back of the sofa.

"So, how long have you two worked together," Tyler asks looking between Daniel and Betty.

Betty looks at Daniel and replies, "What is it now? Almost 4 years?"

"Yeah, but the first 3 years, she was my assistant. She was promoted to associate editor about a year ago," Daniel says.

"Is that when you two started dating?" Tyler asks.

Betty and Daniel look at each other shocked and at the same time reply, "no no no we're not dating."

Daniel finally realising how cosy they look with his arm behind Betty pulls his arm away and scoots over a little towards the opposite end of the sofa.

Daniel clears his throat and responds, "No, we're not dating."

Betty shakes her head, "No, just friends."

"Good friends," Daniel quickly clarifies.

Betty nods her head in agreement.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to assume. It's just that when I was modelling for Mode I always saw you in Daniel's office talking or eating lunch together," Tyler says.

"Oh, well I guess, I was just so use to hanging out in his office when I was his assistant. It's been a hard habit to break." Betty responds.

"Yeah, and I like to bounce ideas for covers off of Betty whenever I get the chance. Guess I'm just use to having her around." Daniel says softly as he looks over at Betty.

Betty looks back at him blushing slightly.

"Don't let them fool you, Tyler. They are completely dependent on each other, but Mode would fall apart without both of them there," Clair declares.

"Well I don't know about that." Betty responds with a smile.

"I do. Daniel would have been lost without you there his first year as editor-in-chief and I once caught you hiding out in his office during your first few days as editor," replies Clair.

Daniel laughs. "Yeah, I have to admit. I don't know what I would have done without her. Guess I should thank my dad for that."

"What do you mean?" Tyler asks confused.

"His dad hired me to be his assistant. Daniel didn't even know anything about it till I introduced myself to him," Betty answers.

"Did you not like hiring your own assistants?" Tyler asks Daniel.

Daniel smiles responding, "No, I did..."

"Yeah, he did. As long as they were tall, skinny and looked like a cover model." Betty says interrupting him.

Daniel looks at Betty and laughs. "I was an idiot, okay. I admit it."

Betty laughs in response.

"Uhhh..I still don't get it," Tyler says looking confused.

"He liked to sleep with his assistants." Claire chimes in.

"What does that have to do with your dad hiring Betty?" Tyler asks Daniel.

"His dad hired me because he knew he wouldn't sleep with me." Betty answers for Daniel.

"Because he's blind?" Tyler asks checking out Betty.

Betty blushes. Daniel looks at Betty then back at Tyler angrily.

"Well she looked a lot different back then." Daniel responds.

Betty, hurt by Daniel's comment, looks at him.

Daniel realising he has hurt Betty's feeling tries to clarify, "I mean...I was such a dog back then. I only went for supermodels. I was shallow and stupid and went for the obvious."

Daniel looks back at Betty and smiles. Betty smiles in response.

"Mrs. Meade, dinner is ready," Consuela announces from the entry way.

"Are we ready to eat?" Clair asks standing up.

"I am!" Betty answers excitedly, standing up.

Daniel laughs as he stands up and puts his hand on Betty's back to usher her towards the dining room.


	3. Chapter 3

It's Thursday night and Betty is once again online going looking at flat listings in London, however, she finds herself unable to concentrate at the task at hand as she cannot help be distracted by the fact that she has not yet told Daniel about taking the job in London.

It's not like she has seen him much in the past couple days, she thinks to herself. In fact, she hasn't spent more than 15 minutes with him since the dinner with Tyler and his mom, and when they have talked it's been about articles and spreads for the 100th Anniversary issue. So really, it's not her fault that she hasn't told him yet. She just hasn't got the chance.

A sudden knock at her door brings Betty's inner dialogue to a abrupt halt. She quickly gets up and walks over to the door.

"Who is it?" She yells not bothering to look through the peep hole.

"Betty, it's me."

"Daniel?" She asks surprised while opening the door to reveal Daniel holding a white paper bag.

"Hey, I hope it's not too late, but I was taking a walk and suddenly got a craving for butter pecan ice cream. I know it's one of your faves and you tend to develop a sweet tooth around this time of night, so I thought maybe you would like to join me?"

Betty smiles widely at the gesture. "Of course! Come in, come in."

Betty steps aside to let Daniel in. He quickly walks over to the table setting down the paper bag next to Betty's open laptop and begins removing its contents.

"What were you working on?" Daniel asks as he leans over to look at the computer screen.

"Oh, nothing!" Betty exclaims as she swiftly walks up and closes the laptop. "I was just messing around online"

"Oh, find anything interesting?"

"Nope. Nothing worth mentioning. I should get some bowls and spoons"

"Forget the bowls. Just get the spoons." Daniel says as he takes the carton of ice cream and heads over to the couch to sit down.

Betty complies and grabs two spoons from the drawer and goes over to sit on the couch next to Daniel.

"Here you go," Betty says handing a spoon to Daniel who takes the spoon and digs into the carton to get a spoon full of ice cream. Once he does he passes the carton to Betty. Betty instantly does the same.

"So, what brings you to this neighbourhood this time of night?"Betty asks while gulping down her ice cream.

"I told you, I just felt like a walk."

"Daniel, I never tried it myself but it has to be about an hour on foot from your place to mine."

"Okay, fine. I didn't walk. I took a cab. But the craving for butter pecan is still true. I just realised that I haven't got to talk to you much since dinner the other night. At least not about anything that doesn't have to do with work or my never ending family drama."

Betty takes a deep breath realising that this would be the perfect time to tell Daniel about the job in London.

"Yeah, everything has been really chaotic lately," She responds instead.

"Ugh, I know, but let's not talk about me tonight. In fact, I want to forget about my family and the magazine for tonight."

"Okay, then what do you want to talk about?" Betty asks a bit sceptical of Daniel's avoidance tactic.

"You. How is everything going with you?"

"You mean since two days ago?" Betty laughs.

"Yeah."

Betty takes a deep breath finally ready to tell Daniel her big news. "Actually, there is something that I've wanted to talk to you about."

Daniel feeling his heart starting to beat a little faster sits up a bit straighter on the couch. "Oh yeah, what is it?"

"It's nothing big. I mean it's big, but not huge..."

"Betty, whatever it is just say it," Daniel says calmly as he puts his hand on her knee.

Betty takes another deep breath. "Okay, you know how I told you that I met Lindsey Dunne while I was in London?"

Daniel nods in response and also shifts a bit away from Betty realising that the conversation is going in a different direction than he previously thought.

"Well he offered me a job."

"Yeah, I know." Daniel says as he dips his spoon into the ice cream carton taking a big bite.

"You know? When...I mean how do you know?"

"Betty, you wrote about it in your blog remember? He offered you a job as a fashion columnist and you turned it down, though I'm not sure why. You would have been great at it."

"I know it would have been good experience, but I really didn't want another thing in my life that would distract me from my blog and the things I really want to write about."

"Yeah, that's what you wrote and I respect you for turning down an opportunity like that because you knew it wouldn't make you happy. Plus, I got to say it scared me at first when I read about the job offer until I realised you could do it from anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

"When I read about the offer I automatically thought what a great opportunity for you, but that was quickly followed by the harsh realisation that if you took it that you might be leaving New York."

"Daniel..."

"I know. I jumped to conclusions. When I read the part about you being able to keep your job at Mode I have to admit I felt very relieved."

Betty is left speechless by Daniel's words and is unsure of whether she should continue with what she had planned to tell him.

"So, is that what you wanted to tell me?" Daniel asks.

"Yeah, I just didn't want you to think I was trying to hide anything from you." Betty says not able to look Daniel in the eye.

Daniel smiles at her in return, but feels that she is holding something back. However, realising what time it is he decides not to press the matter.

"I better get going. It's getting pretty late and we have an editor's meeting first thing in the morning." Daniel gets up and walks towards the door.

"Thank you for bringing the ice cream over. It was very sweet of you," says Betty as she follows behind him.

Daniel opens the door, but turns around to lean in the doorway. "It was no problem. I kind of missed seeing you today and yesterday. I guess I've never quite gotten use to not seeing you every day like when you were my assistant. Heck, I probably never will.

Betty is again at a loss of words, but responds with a tight almost heartbreaking smile.

"Anyway, have a goodnight and I'll see you tomorrow, 9 o'clock sharp," Daniel concludes as he turns around and walks away.

Betty stands motionless for a few seconds before slowly closing the door and leaning heavily against it.


End file.
